Professor helps Cambodia’s Agri-Business sector improve knowledge transfer
Professor Yanqing Duan, Director of Business and Information Systems Research Centre, has visited China and Cambodia as part of a research project on improving Cambodia’s information and knowledge transfer in the agriculture sector using mobile internet technology.
Professor Yanqing Duan, Director of Business and Information Systems Research Centre, has visited China and Cambodia as part of a research project on improving Cambodia’s information and knowledge transfer in the agriculture sector using mobile internet technology.
The ten-month project is part of the AgriTT programme, funded by the UK’s Department for International Development, and brings development practice and research expertise from China, the UK and developing countries in Africa and Southeast Asia together to improve food security.
Professor Duan said;
“I am fascinated by China’s achievements in transferring information and knowledge to the hands of farmers, using emerging ICT’s, especially using smart phones, and the impact of the knowledge transfer on improving agricultural productivity. It is very important for low income countries in South Asia, such as Cambodia, to learn from China’s experience and adapt their best practice”.
The aim of the project is to improve the knowledge and information dissemination flow in the rural areas of Cambodia, by adapting China’s experience on the use of mobile internet and other latest ICT technologies. Professor Duan, an expert in transnational knowledge transfer using ICT’s, visited the Agricultural Information Service Centres in Hunan Province and Beijing in China, where she identified the best practice and transfer models and gave a talk at the China Agricultural University. She then visited Cambodia with other project members to conduct field surveys, interviews, focus groups and workshops, to understand the country’s knowledge transfer needs and current information services provided to the farmers.
“The field visits in China and Cambodia were eye-opening experiences and provided me with unique insights that enable me to understand the farmers’ needs and to establish the most suitable knowledge transfer solutions using ICT’s. The new technologies are transforming traditional farming practice to a new era, so technology and innovation transfer is the key for speeding up this transformation”.
Yanqing Duan is Professor of Information Systems at the University of Bedfordshire and joined the business school in May 1995. Her principal research interest is looking at the impact of emerging ICT’s and how they can be effectively designed and used in enhancing business performance, supporting decision making, facilitating knowledge transfer, and improving skills development.
She has also been a visiting Professor at the China Agricultural University since 2001.
